Marilyn Monroe's iconic "subway dress" from The Seven Year Itch has sold at auction for a whopping $5.6 million. The gigantic price tag exceeded the auction house's expectation that the dress would sell for about $2 million.

The buyer, who won the bid after 20 minutes of auction drama so intense that it had seller Debbie Reynolds in tears, placed his bids over the phone and could not be immediately identified.

The question is now: who, in this recession, has $5.6 million to spend on a dead lady's dress? The topical wisecracking side of me is inclined to think that Hugh Hefner drown his cancelled wedding sorrows in the flimsy fabric once worn by early Playboy's favorite centerfold. Sorry, Hef. Your twin ex-girlfriends who just moved back into the Playboy mansion can't possibly both fit in there, I don't care how much beauty standards have changed since the 1950's.
Marilyn Monroe's Iconic Dress Sells for $5.6 Million at Auction [CNN]